11:11 a.m. on 11 November: A minute of silence for wild animals
Every four minutes, a wild animal dies in Switzerland because of recreational hunting. On 11 November at 11:11 a.m., we answer with a minute of silence. Here is how you can take part.
Photo: Staffan Kjellvestad / Unsplash
«Silence after the shot»
Every four minutes, a wild animal dies in Switzerland through recreational hunting. That works out at a daily average of 341 animals, 124,601 in 2025, not counting ibex and special culls. The figures are set out in the Federal Hunting Statistics 2025. On 11 November, the World Day Against Hunting, we counter this rhythm with something of our own: one minute in which nothing happens.
11:11 a.m.: A minute of silence
On 11 November at 11:11 we pause for one minute. For the wild animals that die in Switzerland through recreational hunting: in 2025 there were 341 on a calculated daily average. Wherever you are at that moment: in the forest, at work, at home.
Afterwards, post a photo. A picture from the forest, from a meadow, of a wild animal you have observed. No hunting trophies, no rifles, no high seats. Use the hashtag #WelttagGegenDieJagd and, if you like, the profile picture frame. That way it becomes visible at 11:11 a.m. just how many people would rather see wild animals alive.
- Download the story template: portrait format with space for your own photo, for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
- Download the profile picture frame: transparent PNG, to be placed over your own profile picture.
- Hashtags: #WelttagGegenDieJagd #StopptDieHobbyJagd
What is World Day Against Hunting?
11 November is the annual day of action of IG Wild beim Wild against recreational hunting. Together with End of Speciesism and supporters across Europe, we call on people on this day to stand up visibly for a hunt-free future. Why this day is needed is explained in the article “Why exactly a World Day Against Hunting?”, and the call itself can be found on the World Day page.
Ceasefire for wild animals
Since 1918, 11 November has been Armistice Day. We take the date at its word: IG Wild beim Wild is calling on the cantons to declare 11 November a hunting-free day. One day a year on which no wild animal in Switzerland is shot for pleasure. Geneva has shown since 1974 that it can be 365 days.
Anyone who wants to take the demand to their cantonal parliament will find ready-made drafts among the template texts for hunting-critical motions.
Write to your cantonal parliament
A minute of silence is a start. What changes politics is a personal message to the people who decide on the hunting acts. A petition lands as a single item of business before a committee and is often dismissed with a boilerplate reply. A hundred individual emails from the same constituency land in a hundred inboxes belonging to parliamentarians who want to be re-elected. Someone has to read and answer each one of them.
That is why our most important request for 11 November is this: write to your cantonal parliament. On the page “End Fox Hunting” you will find, for every canton, the email addresses of the members of parliament, the facts on fox hunting in your own canton and a template letter that you can adapt in your own words. From your own inbox, with your name and place of residence – three sentences are enough.
Sign
If you also want to sign: on the petitions page there are several petitions running against the excesses of recreational hunting, against pasture nets as death traps, for the protection of minors from recreational hunting, and for a blood-alcohol limit for recreational hunters. Around St Hubert's Day on 3 November, Hubertus Masses are once again held in Swiss churches; why the Church should not sanctify recreational hunting is explained in our criticism of the Hubertus mass in Eich.
Listen and read
There is a soundtrack for 11.11.: the anti-hunting songs by IG Wild beim Wild, free to download and share. And from 1 to 11 November we will publish a documented fact about recreational hunting every day, from the stress of hunted animals to the ineffectiveness of fox hunting. The studies behind them are listed in «Hunting Fact-Checked».
The day at a glance
- 1 to 11 November: a daily fact about recreational hunting on our channels
- 11 November, 11:11 a.m.: a minute of silence for wild animals
- Afterwards: post a photo with #WelttagGegenDieJagd, add the profile picture frame
- All day long: write to your own cantonal parliament, sign petitions, share this article
Recreational hunting is not a law of nature. Geneva has been proving it for more than fifty years, as set out in the dossier Geneva and the hunting ban. One minute is not enough to change that. But it is enough to get started.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Alternatives to recreational hunting we show political and practical alternatives to recreational hunting. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
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All articles are written by IG Wild beim Wild as well as by external co-authors. Research, structuring and editorial processes may be supported by AI-assisted tools.
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